The family of rugby legend Anthony Foley has responded to the outpouring of support and sympathy received since his sudden death in Paris over the weekend.
“With Anthony’s passing, we have ultimately lost an amazing, adoring and loving father and husband; an equally caring, loyal and devoted son and brother; a central and go-to figure for the wider Foley and Hogan families. Our anguish at the sudden loss of Anthony is bottomless. We have been plunged deep into an incomprehensible darkness and sense of loss that we must work our way through over the coming days, weeks, months and years.
“We know, too, that his sudden death has brought the rugby worlds of Shannon RFC, Munster, Ireland and much further afield crashing down. You have lost a former player, coach, friend and all-round inspiration – your and our hero both. We mourn his loss together,” the family said in a statement.
In recognising the sympathetic may in which the media has dealth with his death,the family said “we do ask that our privacy and that of his close friends be respected over this tragic period.”
Due to Anthony’s passing having occurred in Paris, funeral arrangements are yet to be finalised.
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A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.